Ben SlaterNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94David Aquila ("Quil") Lawrence is an award-winning correspondent for NPR News, covering the millions of Americans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as they transition to life back at home.Previously, Lawrence served as NPR's Bureau Chief in Kabul. He joined NPR in 2009 as Baghdad Bureau Chief – capping off ten years of reporting in Iraq and all the bordering countries. That experience made the foundation for his first book Invisible Nation: How the Kurds' Quest for Statehood is Shaping Iraq and the Middle East, published in 2008.Before coming to NPR, Lawrence was based in Jerusalem, as Middle East correspondent for The World, a BBC/PRI co-production. For the BBC he covered the fall of the Taliban in December 2001 and returned to Afghanistan periodically to report on development, the drug trade and insurgency.Lawrence began his career as a freelancer for NPR and various newspapers while based in Bogota, Colombia, covering Latin America. Other reporting trips took him to Sudan,NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Quil LawrenceSat, 12 Nov 2016 10:47:45 +0000Quil Lawrencehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org
Quil LawrenceCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit SHAPIRO, HOST: This is Veterans Day 15 years into the war in Afghanistan. Though it is now the longest war in American history, it's one that few Americans have experienced firsthand. That makes for a growing gap between military families and other Americans. To bridge that gap, singer-songwriter Becky Warren put the experiences that she knows well into a new album. She talked about it with NPR's Quil Lawrence. QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Becky Warren's album "War Surplus" is a classic whiskey-soaked, honky-tonk, girl-meets-boy story in 12 songs. Except this story is girl meets boy, boy deploys, boy comes home with PTSD which, soaked in whiskey, tears apart their marriage, which is also something of a classic in the veterans community. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DIVE BAR SWEETHEART") BECKY WARREN: (Singing) Ash on the carpet, stains on the wall - everybody's here 'cause they're better off drowning in alcohol. LAWRENCE: Warren was married to an Iraq vet andBecky Warren's 'War Surplus' Follows A Couple's Life After Deploymenthttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/becky-warrens-war-surplus-follows-couples-life-after-deployment
97089 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgFri, 11 Nov 2016 23:20:00 +0000Becky Warren's 'War Surplus' Follows A Couple's Life After DeploymentQuil LawrenceThirteen years ago, just as the United States began what was to become its longest war, a futuristic wheelchair hit the market.The iBOT allowed paralyzed people, including many veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, to stand up by rising to eye level. It also did something no wheelchair ever had: climb stairs.But even though users loved it, the iBOT went out of production in 2009 when Johnson A Reboot For Wheelchair That Can Stand Up And Climb Stairshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/reboot-wheelchair-can-stand-and-climb-stairs
96117 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMon, 17 Oct 2016 20:36:00 +0000A Reboot For Wheelchair That Can Stand Up And Climb StairsQuil LawrenceFour years ago, Jason Brezler sent an urgent message to a fellow Marine in Afghanistan, warning him about a threat. The warning wasn't heeded, and two weeks later, three U.S. troops were dead.Now the Marine Corps is trying to kick out Maj. Brezler because the warning used classified information.Solving a problemJason Brezler never thought he'd make a career out of the Marine Corps — his family history was FDNY."My grandfather was a firefighter, my father was a firefighter and fire chief," he says.Brezler graduated from the Naval Academy just before Sept. 11, 2001, and deployed twice as a Marine officer. Then he went into the reserves in 2005, and took a job as a rookie firefighter in the Bronx. The Iraq war was burning too, though, and the Marines kept calling for volunteers."I had an opportunity to go to Fallujah at the height of the insurgency, came home and said, what the heck, decided to go to Afghanistan," he says.In 2010 he was at a remote base in Helmand. The mission was toA U.S. Marine Tried To Warn A Comrade, Now He Faces A Dischargehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/trying-oust-afghan-official-marine-draws-us-scrutiny-himself
94673 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTue, 06 Sep 2016 07:54:00 +0000A U.S. Marine Tried To Warn A Comrade, Now He Faces A DischargeQuil LawrenceStephen Coning, a 26-year-old former Marine, took his own life this summer, leaving behind a wife and a 2-year-old son.By chance, it was the same week the Department of Veterans Affairs released conclusive data showing that the rate of suicide for those who served is now much higher than for civilians.Despite that connection, the VA does not presume all suicides to be "service connected."Sounds like red tape — but that means Coning's family has so far received little formal support from the VA."We were under the impression that should anything happen to my husband the VA would take care of that," says his widow, Sky Coning.Stephen Coning served five years in the Marine Corps, including a combat deployment to Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan. He got out in 2013, went to school on the GI Bill and got a job as a veterinary tech.But Sky says he had become a very different person from the young man she met in high school."He hardly ever slept after he left the Marine Corps. HeAfter A Vet's Suicide, Getting VA Benefits Can Compound A Family's Griefhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/after-vets-suicide-getting-va-benefits-can-compound-familys-grief
94493 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 31 Aug 2016 20:30:00 +0000After A Vet's Suicide, Getting VA Benefits Can Compound A Family's GriefQuil LawrenceDonald Trump picked a military town — Virginia Beach, Va. — to give a speech Monday on how he would go about overhauling the Department of Veterans Affairs if elected.He blamed the Obama administration for a string of scandals at the VA during the past two years, and claimed that his rival, Hillary Clinton, has downplayed the problems and won't fix them.Trump outlined 10 ways he would change the department. In addition to creating a direct hotline to the White House for veterans having trouble with the VA — and promising not to select "a political hack" as head of the agency — he listed several ideas that have been pushed by Republicans recently: increasing the secretary's ability to quickly fire any incompetent or corrupt staff, stopping bonuses for poor performance, and — the big one — allowing veterans to choose a doctor outside the VA system.Is Trump proposing privatization of the VA?Short answer: When asked at a news conference in May whether he planned to privatize the VA, heIs Donald Trump Proposing Privatizing The VA?http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/trump-proposing-privatizing-va
92483 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 13 Jul 2016 10:01:00 +0000Is Donald Trump Proposing Privatizing The VA?Quil LawrenceCopyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit GREENE, HOST: Providing health care to veterans has seemed like a challenge for years now. One idea for how to fix this - shift away from a government program to a private one. It's an ideological fight much like the one over the Affordable Care Act - a debate over the preferred role of government. And yesterday, a government commission delivered a report to the White House on the way forward on health care for veterans. Here's NPR's Quil Lawrence. QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Congress passed the Veterans Choice Act in 2014 to speed up veterans' access to health care. It was based on a simple idea - VA hospitals were stretched thin, so pay for vets to see private doctors. Republican Jeff Miller of Florida helped craft the legislation. JEFF MILLER: What we have talked about is providing the veteran the choice of seeing a doctor where and when they want to see it. LAWRENCE: The plan hasn't worked out so well. An NPR investigation found the program failedVA Panel Report To Suggest More Private Care Choices For Veteranshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/va-panel-report-suggest-more-private-care-choices-veterans
92219 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 06 Jul 2016 09:43:00 +0000VA Panel Report To Suggest More Private Care Choices For VeteransQuil LawrenceWhen clinical psychiatrist Cher Morrow-Bradley and other health care providers call the Veterans Choice program, they are greeted with a recorded, 90-second "thank you" from Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald.It's not having the intended effect."Why don't you make this easier? The process is so cumbersome, and I have to listen to you thanking me for spending all this time and then I get put on hold," says Morrow-Bradley, adding that she hasn't figured out how to skip the message.She and many others say this is emblematic of the Veterans Choice program that was intended to quickly work through the backlog of vets waiting for medical care. Anyone more than 40 miles from a Veterans Affairs facility or waiting more than 30 days for an appointment could go get private care outside the VA system.But nearly two years in, there are more vets waiting than before. Health care providers are frustrated with the program, which makes it hard to keep them in the network. Without enough providersFor Doctors And Patients, 'Veterans Choice' Often Means Long Waitshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/doctors-and-patients-veterans-choice-often-means-long-waits
91047 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMon, 06 Jun 2016 16:39:00 +0000For Doctors And Patients, 'Veterans Choice' Often Means Long WaitsQuil LawrenceIn 2009, Emily Vorland went to Iraq with the Army for a year, hoping it would lead to a career in special operations. That dream was derailed not by the enemy, but by a superior officer, who started sexually harassing her."I said no and then reported it. And my direct chain of command relieved him of his position. However, it was three months later when the retaliation started," she says.She says that's when the investigation started to focus on her. It came down to a threat of perjury charges, unless she accepted a general discharge. She took that deal, but it was hard to find civilian work because of what it said on her discharge papers." 'General under honorable,' and then what they have under there — conduct unbecoming. It was hard to apply for a job."The military released data this month showing over 6,000 reported sexual assaults during 2015. The real number is likely three or four times higher. Just like in the civilian world, most rape doesn't get reported, and the PentagonNew Report Says Pentagon Not Doing Enough For Sexual Assault Victimshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/new-report-says-pentagon-not-doing-enough-sexual-assault-victims
90420 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 19 May 2016 09:19:00 +0000New Report Says Pentagon Not Doing Enough For Sexual Assault VictimsQuil LawrenceNPR — together with member stations from across the country — has been reporting on troubles with the Veterans Choice program, a $10 billion plan created by Congress two years ago to squash long wait times veterans were encountering when going to see a doctor. But as we reported in March, this fix needs a fix.Around the nation, our joint reporting project — called Back at Base — has found examples of these problems. Emily Siner of Nashville Public Radio reported on troubles with overcrowding in Tennessee. And Monday, we reported on hospitals and doctors not getting paid in Montana and veterans getting snarled in the phone systems trying to make appointments in North Carolina.Congress and Department of Veterans Affairs officials are in the middle of overhauling the program. Here are some reasons:The VA's most recent data show compared with last year, there are now 70,000 more appointments that kept a veteran waiting at least a month to get care.A March General Accounting Office reportHow Congress And The VA Left Many Veterans Without A 'Choice'http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/how-congress-and-va-left-many-veterans-without-choice
90344 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTue, 17 May 2016 09:03:00 +0000How Congress And The VA Left Many Veterans Without A 'Choice'Quil LawrenceMany veterans are still waiting to see a doctor.Two years ago, vets were waiting a long time for care at Veterans Affairs clinics across the country. At one facility in Phoenix, for example, veterans waited an average of 115 days for an appointment. Adding insult to injury, some VA schedulers were told to falsify data to make it look like the waits weren't that bad.The whole scandal ended up forcing the resignation of Eric Shinseki, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs at the time.Congress and the VA came up with a fix: Veterans Choice, a $10 billion program that was supposed to give veterans a card that would let them see a non-VA doctor if they were more than 40 miles away from a VA facility or they were going to have to wait longer than 30 days for a VA provider to see them.There was a problem, though. Congress gave the VA only 90 days to set up the system. Facing that extremely tight time frame, the VA turned to two private companies to administer the program and helpDespite $10B 'Fix,' Veterans Are Waiting Even Longer To See Doctorshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/attempted-fix-va-health-delays-creates-new-bureaucracy
90309 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMon, 16 May 2016 09:07:00 +0000Despite $10B 'Fix,' Veterans Are Waiting Even Longer To See DoctorsQuil LawrenceStacy Bannerman didn't recognize her husband after he returned from his second tour in Iraq."The man I had married was not the man that came back from war," she says.Bannerman's husband, a former National Guardsman, had been in combat and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He behaved in ways she had never expected, and one day, he tried to strangle her."I had been with this man for 11 years at that point, and there had never been anything like this before," Bannerman said. "I was so furious and so afraid."At first, she thought it was just a problem within her marriage. She called a hotline for military families to ask for help and learned something else she hadn't expected."The woman operating the hotline began weeping," Bannerman remembered. "She was getting so many of these calls from military spouses all over the country."The debate about the relationship between domestic violence and post-traumatic stress disorder has waxed and waned since the invasions of Iraq andAfter Combat Stress, Violence Can Show Up At Homehttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/after-combat-stress-violence-can-show-home
89580 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 27 Apr 2016 19:51:00 +0000After Combat Stress, Violence Can Show Up At HomeQuil LawrenceThe fix is broken.Two years ago Congress created the Veterans Choice Program after scandals revealed that some veterans were waiting months to get essential medical care. The $10 billion program was designed to get veterans care quickly by letting them choose a doctor outside the VA system. Now Congress and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are pushing through new legislation to fix the program.Irvin Bishop Small served in the Navy for 10 years. Like most VA patients, he doesn't have a war wound — he has a set of worn-out knees and ankles from lugging heavy gear up and down ladders on a ship. Surgery didn't help, and now it hurts to walk."For me to just go up and down the deck a couple times, by the time I'm done, my toes are starting to go numb, my ankles are starting to feel like somebody's wrapping a molten metal band around it," says Small, 41. "And if I keep going, I lose all feeling in my feet."Between the pain and the painkillers, and all his medical appointments, it'sFor The VA's Broken Health System, The Fix Needs A Fixhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/vas-broken-health-system-fix-needs-fix
88250 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 23 Mar 2016 09:13:00 +0000For The VA's Broken Health System, The Fix Needs A FixQuil LawrenceMidway through Matt Keil's second deployment in Iraq, he came home and married his fiancee, Tracy, in 2007.He had two weeks R no time for a honeymoon.Before he went back to war the couple had the sort of conversation unique to newlyweds in the military. "I told her if you get a phone call that I'm injured, I'm probably fine," Matt says. "But if they come to the apartment or to your work in person, then I'm dead."Six weeks later the news came — a phone call, thankfully. Matt had been shot in the shoulder. It wasn't until Tracy got to Walter Reed Army Medical Center that she got the full story. The sniper's bullet had nicked Matt's spine."The doctor came in and told me he was paralyzed from the neck down, and he said it was a 'Christopher Reeve'-type injury," says Tracy.Questions overwhelmed them about the future, including whether they'd ever be able to have children. It seemed like something they could figure out later."They were kinda telling us we're putting the cart before the horseFor Fertility Treatment, Wounded Veterans Have To Pay The Billhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/fertility-treatment-wounded-veterans-have-foot-bill
86994 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 17 Feb 2016 20:54:00 +0000For Fertility Treatment, Wounded Veterans Have To Pay The BillQuil LawrenceDuring World War II, thousands of Americans lied about their age to enlist in the military. During the Iraq war, Daniel Torres lied about something else."I didn't want to be just another Mexican living in the U.S. I wanted to say I'd done something for the country," said Torres.Torres' parents came to the U.S. legally, but overstayed their visas — leaving him without a green card. But in 2007, with the death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan peaking, a Marine Corps recruiter in Idaho was happy to rush through the formalities. Social Security number? Check. High school diploma? Check. Criminal record? None."Well, what about your birth certificate?" Torres remembers the recruiter asked."I'm from Mexico," Torres said. "He's like, 'Well, come back Monday.' "Torres came back Monday with a U.S. birth certificate — it was fake, but for a good cause, he thought.He deployed to Iraq, near Fallujah, in 2009. When his unit came home and started gearing up for a tour in Afghanistan, Torres lost hisService Members, Not Citizens: Meet The Veterans Who Have Been Deportedhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/service-members-not-citizens-meet-veterans-who-have-been-deported
85730 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 13 Jan 2016 09:48:00 +0000Service Members, Not Citizens: Meet The Veterans Who Have Been DeportedQuil LawrenceThe number of military veterans in the country's jails and prisons continues to drop, a new report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows.It's the first government report that includes significant numbers of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — and the findings defy stereotypes that returning war veterans are prone to crime.The data show that veterans are less likely to be behind bars than nonveterans. The study tracked an estimated 181,500 incarcerated veterans in 2011-2012, 99 percent of whom were male. During that period, veterans made up 8 percent of inmates in local jails and in state and federal prisons, excluding military facilities.The Bureau of Justice Statistics began tracking the number of incarcerated veterans after the Vietnam War. In 1978, about 24 percent of prisoners were veterans. That number has fallen steadily since then, as the military switched from the draft to an all-volunteer force. In 1998, veterans had nearly the same incarceration rates asDefying Stereotypes, Number Of Incarcerated Veterans In U.S. Dropshttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/defying-stereotypes-number-incarcerated-veterans-us-drops
84359 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgMon, 07 Dec 2015 15:36:00 +0000Defying Stereotypes, Number Of Incarcerated Veterans In U.S. DropsQuil LawrenceAt the county court in Waukesha, Wis., in September, Iraq veteran David Carlson sat before a judge hoping he hadn't run out of second chances.The judge read out his record: drugs, drunken driving, stealing booze while on parole, battery while in prison. Then the judge listed an almost equal number of previous opportunities he'd had at treatment or early release.Carlson faced as much as six more years on lockdown — or the judge could give him time served and release him to a veterans treatment program instead.The judge's tone was not encouraging."This criminal justice system frankly has bent over backwards in an effort to maintain you in the community," said Judge Donald Hassin Jr. "And frankly, sir, the response to all that has not been good."Carlson has spent most of the past five years locked up. Before that he did two tours in Iraq. His family says the second tour, in particular, scarred him, sending back a man they hardly knew. They attribute his criminal behavior to war trauma —Behind Bars, Vets With PTSD Face A New War Zone, With Little Supporthttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/behind-bars-vets-ptsd-face-new-war-zone-little-support
82969 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgThu, 05 Nov 2015 22:39:00 +0000Behind Bars, Vets With PTSD Face A New War Zone, With Little SupportQuil LawrenceAfter his son died fighting in Afghanistan, Phil Schmidt became a walking memorial."At the age of 52, I got my first tattoo. So I've got a total of five of em, and I'm not done," says Schmidt, who lives in New Mexico.Schmidt has tattoos of his son Jonathan's face, and of his son's medals, and the date that he fell in combat, Sept. 1, 2012.Jonathan Schmidt should have been coming home from Afghanistan that month. Instead two Army officers arrived at Schmidt's home bearing the news that Jonathan had died in a firefight.They didn't have many details, only that Jonathan had been shot in the back — and that didn't make sense to Phil Schmidt. As he set out to find out more, one of his son's teammates made a surprising suggestion."He said, 'Have you contacted AK?' " Schmidt recalls. "And I said, 'Who's AK?' "That's the nickname of the Afghan interpreter who worked with Jonathan through his whole deployment with a Special Forces team.Schmidt reached out to AK on Facebook and they startedAmerican Dad Fights For The Afghan Interpreter Who Aided His Fallen Son http://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/american-dad-fights-afghan-interpreter-who-aided-his-fallen-son
81011 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgWed, 23 Sep 2015 20:37:00 +0000American Dad Fights For The Afghan Interpreter Who Aided His Fallen Son Quil LawrenceIn 2009, then-Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki declared that all homeless veterans would have housing by year's end. New Orleans has made huge strides towards ending veteran homelessness in the city. (This story first aired on August 4, 2015 on All Things Considered.) Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit ARUN RATH, HOST: Often the focus of campaign rhetoric and political reporting is broken promises. Well, here's one promise that has been kept. Cities around the country vowed to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to end homelessness among veterans. The city of New Orleans has actually done it. Here's NPR's Quil Lawrence with this encore presentation.(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE: Under the deafening highway noise of the Pontchartrain Expressway in New Orleans, a couple dozen homeless folks are bedding down. It's too hot for blankets. They're using cardboard or clothes to make the concrete a little more comfortable.TIASHA COTTON: If they'reIn New Orleans, There's Hope That Veteran Homelessness Can Be Solvedhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/new-orleans-theres-hope-veteran-homelessness-can-be-solved
79002 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgSat, 08 Aug 2015 21:16:00 +0000In New Orleans, There's Hope That Veteran Homelessness Can Be SolvedQuil LawrenceThis is a tale of two cities. In New Orleans, there are signs of hope that veteran homelessness can be solved. But Los Angeles presents a very different picture. Under the deafening highway noise of the Pontchartrain Expressway in central city New Orleans, Ronald Engberson, 54, beds down for the night. Engberson got out of the Marines in 1979, plagued even back then by problems with drugs and alcohol. He says that's mostly the reason he's been homeless the past 10 years."My longest stretch sober was 14 months," he says. "Being out there on the streets, it's tough."About 50,000 vets are homeless in America. In 2009, then-Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki declared that all of them would have housing by this year. At the time, even inside the VA that goal was considered aspirational at best. But last year, cities across the country said it was looking achievable. New Orleans was the first to declare, in January, that the city had done it. (Jump to the bottom to see how your stateThe U.S. Declared War On Veteran Homelessness — And It Actually Could Winhttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/us-declared-war-veteran-homelessness-and-it-actually-could-win
78772 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTue, 04 Aug 2015 09:49:00 +0000The U.S. Declared War On Veteran Homelessness — And It Actually Could WinQuil LawrenceA decade ago, plans were drawn up for a huge Veterans Affairs hospital near Denver intended to replace old and crowded facilities for nearly 400,000 vets in Colorado and neighboring states.The original budget was $328 million, but that was totally unrealistic, the VA now acknowledges. So how much did it finally cost?Well, it's still not finished and the price has hit an eye-popping $1.7 billion, making it one of the most expensive hospitals in the world according to some accounts."We've got to get this hospital built. There's no question about that," Colorado Republican congressman Mike Coffman said at a hearing in Denver this spring. The hospital is in Aurora, an area he represents.Multiple factors are cited for the massive cost overruns, from the low initial estimate, to poor planning to repeated delays. In addition, the VA, which is in the business of providing health care to veterans, has been in charge of the construction and has been accused of doing that job poorly."This costThe Unfinished VA Hospital That's More Than $1 Billion Over Budgethttp://wyomingpublicmedia.org/post/unfinished-va-hospital-thats-more-1-billion-over-budget
76257 as http://wyomingpublicmedia.orgTue, 09 Jun 2015 20:07:00 +0000The Unfinished VA Hospital That's More Than $1 Billion Over Budget